A Trick of the Light
by shadowblade-tara
Summary: What if it wasn't Cas who pulled Dean out of hell? What if Gabe didn't wait four months? What if, instead of waking up alone in his grave, Dean found his savior was right there waiting?


Supernatural © the CW.

So, I've been reading a bit of the Dean/Gabe stuff, and decided to try my hand at it. Once again, this isn't really slash, but you could probably read into it like that. Just a bit of an AU that came into my head today. Baths are great for creativity.

This could be a start for a one-shot series, as time allows. If enough people like this, I'll do some expansion pieces.

**A Trick of the Light**

Sometimes Father doesn't give orders to the angels. Sometimes He simply points out a situation to them and lets them handle it on their own. That's how Gabriel happens upon the situation a certain Dean Winchester has gotten himself into.

Gabriel knew about the deal Dean made. As foolish as it was, he still admires him for it. Gabriel knows exactly why Dean did it. Seeing Dean still in hell, still fighting against Alastair, still fighting to keep his soul, and knowing his brothers and sisters were doing _nothing_ on Zachariah's twisted orders enraged him. So he does exactly what he knows his Father wants him to do.

He goes down there and pulls Dean out himself. He pulls the human soul out of the fires of hell and puts him back inside his body, piecing it back together with everything he has. Just because he knows how things can turn out, he brands Dean's soul with his handprint. He's not sure why he does this, why he cares so much, but he does.

Dean forces his way out of his grave. He's panicking, scared, gasping for air, but as soon as his hands breach the surface of his make-shift grave, someone grabs him and helps him dig his way to the surface. Dean sits up in his grave, gasping for air, for the moment completely unaware of his companion. Gabriel holds his hand and keeps another on his back, holding the hunter steady while he regains his bearings. Suddenly Dean registers the new presence beside him, and his head snaps over to Gabriel. His eyes widen.

"You?"

Gabriel offers him a faint grin. "The one and only." He helps Dean stand. "I don't think we were ever properly introduced." he says by way of apology. "They call me Gabriel."

Dean laughs, and the sound is almost forced. "They call me Dean."

/-/

Gabriel sticks around. Together they find a car and drive off to Bobby's. The older hunter takes to Gabriel well enough. Sure, he's screwed with Sam and Dean's heads a time or two, but he also pulled Dean out of hell, and that makes him at least okay in Bobby's eyes. Bobby points them in the direction of Sam, and the three of them head out.

Bobby's asleep in the backseat. Dean glances at Gabriel in the passenger's. "Kinda hard to believe it was only a month." he says by way of conversation.

Gabriel's face darkens. "It shouldn't have been that long."

"Time works differently in hell. Maybe it does in Heaven."

"Or maybe Zachariah's just an ass."

Dean laughs. The sound almost wakes Bobby up. "So what made you decide to pull my ass out?" he asks. Gabriel hesitates. Dean flashes him a grin. "Oh come on. Just didn't think you were a fan, is all."

That earns him a laugh. "A fan of you two chuckleheads? Please."

"That's what – Gabe-speak for yes?"

Gabriel isn't exactly sure how he just became Gabe, but he has to admit – he likes it.

/-/

Of course, Sam isn't as easy to convince as Bobby and Dean. Still, eventually the little brother comes around. Gabe sticks around during their hunts. It becomes the three of them – the Winchesters and one misplaced Trickster. Of course, by now Dean obviously knows he's not a Trickster. While the hunter never asks the question, Gabe suspects he knows the truth.

So he becomes part of the team. Just another hunter as far as the world is concerned. Frankly, Gabe likes it. The Winchesters make good family.

/-/

Sam knows they're in trouble when the first angel shows up. He's caught standing just outside of the motel door. Dean and Gabe are inside with the new angel – and Sam knows he's an angel. They have too many demon/monster protection charms on that room for him to be anything else. He calls himself Uriel. It's a name they've heard frequently as Gabe told them bits and pieces of his past.

"You went against your orders, Gabriel."

Gabriel snorts. "I'm not part of the garrison anymore, Uriel, you know that. What orders? I don't have to follow any orders."

"You let him out too soon."

Sam decides now is a good time to enter. He slides the door open enough for him to slip inside. Dean is pressed against the back wall, Gabe standing between him and Uriel. Sam knows exactly how protective Gabe is of both of them, Dean especially. He can see from the way Gabe holds himself that he's entered guardian angel mode.

"Too soon?" Gabe sneers. "You would have left him down there to be tortured even more?"

Uriel shrugs. "That was my orders. We were training his savior."

That's when Dean opens his mouth. "I like the one I got, thank you very much."

Uriel snorts. "You're attached, Gabriel. You should have let it rot where it was." With that said he vanishes. Gabe doesn't exactly relax, but Sam and Dean do. Dean turns to Gabe.

"What was that all about?"

"I have no idea." Gabe looks worried, though, and that's enough to scare Sam. Gabe never worries.

/-/

The angels keep coming. Most of the time the Winchesters remain out of their sight. Gabe goes to great lengths to keep them away from his more idiotic brothers. He still can't quite figure out what's going on – why it really matters at what point Dean was released from hell. Normally he tries to stay as far out of this stuff as possible, but, well, Dean's important now.

Aw, hell, who's he kidding? Dean's been important since Father pointed him towards hell.

The kicker comes when Uriel introduces them to Castiel, Dean's almost-savior. Gabriel is furious. Castiel is the youngest of the angels – he would never have survived going through hell just to bring Dean back. He can't believe Zachariah would make that choice.

Still, there's no harm in letting the younger angel talk to the boys, especially without Uriel in the room. There's a moment of awkward silence where everyone just looks each other over before Castiel finally speaks. "I was supposed to rescue you, when the time came."

Gabe snorts. "Assholes."

Sam bursts out laughing. Dean glances back at Gabe with a knowing smile. "Didn't realize you were a big brother, Gabe." he teases. Gabe just gives him the finger, but he smiles back just the same.

/-/

Castiel comes and goes as he's ordered, then he starts to come and go as he pleases. It takes a couple of months, but soon he's coming more than he's going. Sam figures he likes the company. He's also pretty sure he likes being called Cas, even though it takes Gabe explaining why he needs a nickname.

At first, Dean is leery about this newcomer. Gabe is their angel, and he's not sure they need or want another. Still, as the months pass, Dean gets used to him. He hasn't lived among humans for quite as long as Gabe has. Cas can get pretty funny at times. And Gabe likes having his little brother so close. Soon enough, the Winchester tribe has a new member. The angels usually wind up sitting in the back of the Impala, when they can get Cas to ride with them. Sam's too tall to get back there easily with two people.

It surprises Bobby as much as it pleases him. Dean and Sam take too much responsibility for each other as it is. He's glad to see they now have two people to spread the love with. They seem to fit together perfectly, the four of them. Sam tolerates Cas's endless questions and teaches him everything he needs to know about blending in with humans. Gabe and Dean are two peas in a pod, like they always are.

He just wonders what will happen when Cas's superiors find out how close he's gotten.

/-/

Very rarely does Dean spend time alone with Cas. It's not that it's awkward or anything; it's just kind of become the unspoken rule that it's Dean and Gabe, and Sam and Cas. The arrangement works well.

This is one of those rare moments when Dean and Cas find themselves alone in the motel room together. Dean has his shirt stripped off so he can reach a wound on his chest to stitch it shut. He won't let Cas or Gabe heal it. It's just a little cut, nothing three stitches won't cure. Still, Cas watches him intently.

"I didn't realize Gabriel marked you."

"What?"

"That handprint." Cas moves closer to examine the mark. "If I had been the one to pull you out, that mark would be what keeps your soul anchored to your body. Gabriel's stronger than me, though. He shouldn't have left any kind of mark, much less that one."

"So it's special?" Dean asks.

"Very."

"Huh. I'll have to ask Gabe about it sometime."

/-/

It takes a confrontation with Uriel, Zachariah, and Raphael for them to realize just how bad things have gotten – how bad they almost were.

The Winchesters are gone, leaving Gabe and Cas to deal with the trio on their own. Frankly, both are glad for it. While Gabe devotes most of his attention to Dean, Cas has adopted Sam as his own. They take their duties very seriously.

"You have no idea how badly you screwed things up, Gabriel." Zachariah's on a role now, and he won't stop. Gabe just crosses his arms over his chest and waits it out. "We were so close – _so close_ – to breaking him. It would have taken a few more months at the most. Yet you had to go in and play the savior!"

Gabe holds up one hand. "Break him?" There's something dangerous in his voice that makes Uriel take a step back. The other two aren't quite so smart. They tend to forget Gabriel is an archangel as well.

Cas's eyes widen. "The Righteous man who sheds blood in hell." he whispers, and suddenly Gabe understands everything.

"You're insane." he says flatly. "You were going to leave him to rot in hell just so you could jump-start the Apocalypse? Why?"

"Two thousand years we watch this rock." Raphael says. "And yet we hear nothing. They destroy everything they touch. It's our turn."

Gabe snorts. "Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." Zachariah says darkly.

"We'll have our war." Raphael continues like neither of them spoke. "You need to choose your side now, both of you. Are you with us, or with the mud monkeys?"

Castiel lifts his chin. "I side with God, and Gabriel."

Gabe shrugs. "Dad's the one who told me to pull Dean out. And humans are a lot more fun to mess with than you retards." He grins. "Guess we're not on your side."

Uriel's face darkens. "We'll be seeing you around, traitors." With that all three of them vanish.

When the boys return, the angels fill them in. Dean's eyes are wide, his face pale, by the time they finish. "I was supposed to – "

"No." Gabe says harshly. "You were supposed to be saved, and you were. They're jerks. We've established this." It earns him a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Sam is just as furious as Dean is scared. "They're going to destroy the world?"

"They can't. Not as long as the first seal remains unbroken." Cas assures him. "Besides, they are only three angels. Once the others learn of their plans, they'll rebel against them. They'll be cast out of heaven."

As Sam and Cas discuss logistics, Gabe keeps his attention on Dean. "You alright there, Dean-o? Look a bit shell-shocked." He sits down on the bed next to him. Dean seems to struggle with himself for a moment before finally turning to Gabe.

"Can they really send me back?"

Gabe places his hand on Dean's shoulder. "That print isn't for pretty." he scolds lightly. "I pulled you out, I'm the only one who can throw you back, and trust me – I'm not. Not ever."

Dean smiles. "Thanks, Gabe."

Gabe just smiles back.


End file.
